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All
decisions of the March plenary

At its 98th plenary session on
21-22 March 2014, the Commission

:

- adopted opinions inter alia
on:

- “whether Draft Federal
Constitutional Law No. 462741-6 on amending the Federal Constitutional Law
of the Russian Federation on the
procedure of admission to the Russian Federation and creation of a new
subject within the Russian Federation is compatible with international law”
(endorsed);

- “whether the decision taken by the
Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine
to organise a referendum on becoming a constituent territory of the Russian
Federation or restoring Crimea’s 1992 Constitution is compatible with
constitutional principles”;

-
the draft law on the review of the Constitution of Romania;

- the draft Law on
making amendments and supplements to the judicial code of Armenia;

othe protection of children’s rights: international standards and
domestic constitutions;

- held
an exchange of views inter
alia with :

Mr Dimitry
Vyatkin, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional
Legislation and State Building of the Russian State Duma;

Mr Pavlo Petrenko, Minister of Justice of Ukraine,

Mr Mustapha Ben
Jaafar, President of the National Constituent Assembly of Tunisia;

-was informed on :
oco-operation with the State
Constitutional Commission of Georgia;
ofollow-up to the opinion on two sets of draft amendments to the
constitutional provisions relating to the judiciary of Montenegro, to the opinion on the Draft Law on the Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the amicus curiae brief in the cases of
Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina;
oconstitutional developments in Turkey;
oco-operation with Kazakhstan, Libya and Morocco;
oco-operation with Albania on the reform of the
judiciary and

[2]All reference to Kosovo, whether to
the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood
in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and
without prejudice to the status of Kosovo

Selected opinions

·Ukraine - referendum in Crimea and constitutional principles

By letter dated 7 March 2014 the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr T. Jagland, asked the Venice
Commission to provide an opinion on “whether the decision taken by the
Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine to organise
a referendum on becoming a constituent territory of the Russian Federation
or restoring Crimea’s 1992 Constitution is compatible with constitutional
principles”.

On 6 March 2014 the Supreme Rada (Council) of the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea adopted a Resolution “On the all-Crimean referendum”. According to
the Resolution, the voters are given two options: "1) Do you support
the reunification of the Crimea with Russia as a subject of the Russian
Federation? 2) Do you support the restoration of the Constitution of the
Republic of Crimea as of 1992 and the status of the Crimea as a part of
Ukraine?"

On 28 February 2014, a group of deputies of the State Duma of the
Russian Federation introduced Draft Federal Constitutional Law No. 462741-6
On Amending the Federal Constitutional Law on the Procedure of Admission to
the Russian Federation and Creation of a New Subject within the Russian
Federation. By a letter dated 7 March 2014, the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe requested by way of urgency the opinion of the Venice
Commission on the compatibility with international law of Draft Federal
Constitutional Law No. 462741-6.

Since
Draft Law No. 462741-6 focuses solely on the admission of new subjects,
this opinion limits its attention to this aspect. The purpose of this
opinion is to assess the text of the Draft Law and not to take a position
on a specific situation.

The
Draft Law further provides that in the situation foreseen in Draft Article
4 (2.1), the request for the admission of a new subject to the Russian
Federation shall be submitted by “state authorities of the part of the
foreign state” (Draft Article 6 (1.1)). The admission shall then be carried
out solely on the basis of the constitutional law of the Russian
Federation, with no need to conclude an international treaty with the
foreign state.

The
Explanatory Note attached to Draft Law No. 462741-6 explicitly refers to
the situation in Ukraine and to the obligation of the Russian Federation to
“take measures of support of the people of Ukraine that would push
Ukraine´s authorities towards establishing proper order without violence
and discrimination of national minorities”. Although it is therefore
evident that it is designed to address the current situation in Ukraine,
Draft Law No. 462741-6 is drafted in general terms.

Tunisia – new
Constitution adopted and promulgated

Tunis, Bardo Palais - On 26 January 2014, the National Constituent Assembly
of Tunisia adopted its new constitution by an overwhelming majority of 200
votes in favour, 12 against and 4 abstentions. On 27 January, the
Constitution was promulgated by the President of the Republic, Mr Moncef
Marzouki, the President of the NCA Mr Mustapha Ben Jaafar and the outgoing
Prime Minister Mr Ali Laarayedh.

The Venice Commission participated in the ceremony of promulgation.

OBITUARY

Professor
Jean-Claude COLLIARD,
Member of the Venice Commission in respect of France

15/03/1946 -
27/03/2014

Paris - The Venice Commission is sad to announce
the death of Mr. Jean-Claude Colliard, the member in respect of France
(since 2006) and Vice President of the Council for Democratic Elections
(since 2010).

Mr Colliard was very active in the Venice
Commission: the Commission benefited from his wide experience and
competences as President of the Paris University Panthéon-Sorbonne, as well
as a professor of law and a member of the Constitutional Council of France,
in particular in the field of elections. Professor Colliard contributed to
the Commission’s work, participating in the preparation of opinions and
studies and representing it during scientific conferences and seminars and
as an elections observer.

Selected activities since the beginning of
2014

Warsaw – The Venice Commission, represented by its Moldovan member
Mr N. Esanu, participated in the meeting of the OSCE/ ODHIR Panel on
freedom of assembly.
The agenda included an exchange of views on the most recent developments in
the field and discussions on specific topics related to the freedom of
assembly in the framework of the revision of the joint Guidelines on
freedom of assembly.

Sarajevo - A delegation of the Venice Commission,
headed by its President, participated in the celebration on the occasion of
the 50th anniversary of Constitutional Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and the Conference on “Constitutional Court – Between Negative Legislator
and Positive Activism”.

Elections, Referendums and
Political Parties

Georgia - Post election conference -
18-19/02/2014

Tbilisi – Venice Commission participated in a
post-electoral conference entitled "the 2013 Presidential elections:
lessons learned and steps ahead" co-organised by the Council of
Europe, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Neighbourhood Cooperation

Turkmenistan - Roundtable on
judicial ethics and discipline

-
26-27/02/2014

Ashgabat – The roundtable on “Judicial Ethics and Discipline”, was
jointly organised by the Venice Commission, the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs of Finland and the authorities of Turkmenistan. Participants in
this meeting included representatives of the Ministry of Justice, judges
from the Supreme Court as well as from lower courts.